The subject matter described herein relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly, to systems and methods for performing image segmentation and visualization of multivariate medical images.
Imaging systems are widely used to generate images of various anatomical features or objects of interest. For example, in an oncology examination, a patient may go through a series of examinations, using for example, a computed tomography (CT) system, a positron emission tomography (PET) system, an ultrasound system, an x-ray system, a magnetic resonance (MR) system, a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system, and/or other imaging systems. The series of examinations is performed to continuously monitor the patient's response to treatment. The images acquired during the examination may be displayed or saved to enable a physician to perform a diagnosis of the patient. Thus, the patient may be scanned with one or more imaging systems selected to provide the most relevant images needed by the physician to perform the medical diagnosis.
In operation, the images may be sequentially processed to solve a clinical problem, such as for example, patient screening, diagnosing, monitoring, etc. For example, the MR system may be configured to acquire T1-weighted images and T2-weighted images to enable the physician to assess pathologic tissues such as inflammations and tumors. Moreover, CT images may be utilized to enable the physician to visualize the anatomy, i.e. vessels, bones, etc. Additionally, dual-energy CT (DECT) images may be utilized to visualize different materials, such as for example, iodine, water, or calcium.
However, typical segmentation algorithms are configured to be utilized with images acquired from a single imaging system. For example, a CT algorithm may be utilized to segment CT images. Moreover, a different algorithm may be utilized to segment PET images. As a result, the information provided to physician to determine a diagnosis of the patient is typically presented as separate images acquired by different imaging system. Thus, the physician is not presented with joint information which may provide additional information that is relevant to the diagnosis.